Cougars Girls' Tennis Draws on Mental Strength in Sweep of Shawnee

Tyler Haaz and Paige Leone have put together the tennis equivalent of a marathon this week.

Between the Olympic Conference tournament and the South Jersey Interscholastic tournament, the Cherry Hill East second doubles team has pounded out nine matches in recent days, including three-set wins against the top doubles teams from Ocean City and Seneca and the No. 2 double squad for Moorestown.

So if the pair looked a little tired in the opening round of the South Jersey, Group 4 tournament against Shawnee Thursday, well—it was with good reason.

Facing the Renegades' former No. 1 team of Narelle Kipple and Cameron Kroberger, Haaz and Leone came out looking dominant, winning the first set easily, 6-4.

But heat, humidity and those nine matches took their toll—Leone and Haaz battled, but lost the second set, and things weren't looking great to start the third.

While the match had long been decided—the Cougars had won every other matchup to that point—the two weren't about to concede theirs, conferring with coach Mary Jewett in between crossovers and trying to find that last bit of fight.

“They're very strong-minded competitors,” Jewett said. “They keep their intelligence ahead of their emotions.”

With Leone and Haaz down for much of the third set, it wasn't just a matter of physical toughness. Jewett, who kept her players focused on the positive, called it a mental fight as much as anything else.

“That's what a third set is—it's your mind,” she said.

With Kipple and Kroberger up, 4-3, the match finally swung back in Haaz and Leone's favor—the East team won two games in a row, and nearly closed out the match with a third straight, but failed to call a ball out that bounced about four inches outside the sideline to drop to 5-5.

The momentum hadn't turned, though, and Haaz and Leone were able to win two more back-to-back to close out the match and the 5-0, first-round sweep.

Afterward, an exhausted Haaz credited her opponents, who played above their No. 16 seed.

“We expected to do well, but we were impressed by how well the other girls played,” she said. “They're a very strong team.”

That sentiment was echoed by Jewett, who knew it was going to be a tough win, given how tightly Shawnee played the Cougars four weeks ago.

“They have strength in every position, they're just not as experienced,” she said.

That strength was reflected in how close the matches were. East's Allyson Wolf beat Delaney Kipple, 6-3, 6-4, at first singles; East's Nikita Shukla took down Allison Jones, 6-3, 6-4; and the first doubles team of Adele Boyarski and Lauren Romisher won, 6-4, 6-4. The only match that could've been remotely considered lopsided was East's Amanda Elfman's 6-2, 6-1, win over Vienna Cordier.

That extra challenge right out of the gate might not be what was expected from a 1-16 matchup, but Jewett said it'll be beneficial down the line.

“The tougher match play we get, it's just going to make us stronger and stronger and more resilient,” she said.

The Cougars will face No. 8 Lenape, a 3-2 winner over No. 9 Millville, at home in the second round of the tournament Tuesday.